Hydraulic spring hanger



Dec. 22, 1953 E. R. HINCIKLE HYDRAULIC SPRING HANGER Filed May 28, 1952NJ II 0: I N I I 5g i I I INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 22, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims,

The present invention relates to a means for suspending beef rails inmoving vehicles, such as for instance, rolling stock, trucks, and otherland or water conveyances. While the invention is principally concernedwith the shipment of large sides of beef and other meats, the sameprinciples of construction may also be applied for shipping other typesof bulky commodities.

In my prior copending application, Serial No. 257,6 9, filed November21, 1951, I have disclosed means and methods of mounting individualhydraulic spring hangers, to which eye-bolts or ring bolts could beattached from which the sides of beef and other objects of the same typemight be suspended.

It has been pointed out in my companion application that because of themotion of the cars, the beef suspended by the usual hook may easily bedamaged, either by shaking and movement of the car itself, or becausethe beef may be thrown ofi the hook or wear through the hook as theresult of which it will be bruised and damaged in contact with the wallsor floors.

In the present application the construction deals principally with ameans and method of suspending the entire beef rail; that is, a, railfrom which the'beef may be suspended by a suitable hook, the rail itselftaking the greater part of the jar, vibration or shaking so that thebeef will D be given a smooth ride and not be damaged.

I have found that an ordinary hook may be used if the whole rail itselfis supported on 'a hydraulic suspension in such a way that the motionand vibration of the car is damped by the suspension means which actsbetween the hook and the fixed support.

The advantage of this type of construction is that far fewer suspensionhydraulic hangers need be used and no special provision need be made forthe types of hooks to be used, but any good type of hook which will notfall offthe beam will be sufiicient.

Without further describing the merits and advantages of the presentinvention, the invention will be more fully described in thespecification set forth below when taken in connection with the drawingsillustrating an embodiment of the invention, in which:

Figure 1 shows a section through the suspension hanger and the suspendedbeam of my invention.

Figure 2 shows a top view of the hydraulic hanger shown in section inFigure 1 with the top cover removed, and

Figure 3 shows a vertical section through the supporting beams fromwhich the suspension beam is suspended.

In the arrangement indicated in the figures, the hanger element I may beprovided with side flanges 2 and 3, coextensive with one side of thehanger unit by means of which the whole unit may be attached to the beam5 which may be a cross beamby means of suitable attaching bolts 4, 4,etc., passing through holes in the flanges and into the sides of thebeam; The hanger unit I may be somewhat similar in constructionto thatdescribed in my copending application.- The unit comprises a casing witha base 6 and side walls '5, 3, 5 and Hi, forming a box which may becovered by a cover In. The base 6 may have suitably placed upwardlyprojecting bosses H, Ii. which form shoulders for the helical springsi2, :2, etc. The helical springs may extend from the base 5 upwards toa, top plate l3 which may if desired, also have downwardly projectingbosses coaxial with the helical springs. Suitable rods or studs 14permanently secured at the center of the bosses ll extend upwardscoaxially with the helical spring 12 through the top plate l3 and arecapped over the top plate l3 by washers I5 and nuts I6 to secure thesprings and plate in place with a uniform tension. The washers and. nutsas indicated in the plan view in Figure 2, show'the uniform distributionof the helical springs beneath the whole plate l3. Extending upwardthrough the base ii are two walled passages I1 and I8 which extendsubstantially halfway up into the box or casing and through which slidefitting rods I9 and 20 extend coaxial with a center bore in the walledpassages I! and I8 respectively. The rods [9 and 20 pass upward throughthe box and through the plate l3. The ends of the rods have caps orheads 2| and 22 firmly attached or welded to them which caps haveoutwardly extending flange plates 23 and 24 respectively which arebolted, riveted or attached by screws as indicated at 25 to the plateI3.

Surrounding the rods [9 and 2!! and extending from the top of thepassages l1 and [8 are flexible collars 26 and 21 which at one end areheld by clamps 28 and 29 to the tops of the passages l1 and I8 andextend to the plate I? to which the other end of the collars are clampedinside of the box surrounding the well and coils to pass slowly throughthe plate as the plate is moved downward by the weight acting againstthe rods [9 and 20. For this purpose the plate [3 may have a sliding fitagainst the inside of the walls I, 8, 9 and H! so that as the plate isbeing drawn downward against the oil or other hydraulic liquid which maybe inside the casing, the liquid will be forced up through the orifices30 and provide a damping action in parallel to the action of thecoilsprings. This action will work in both directions inasmuch as whenthe plate tends to rise the Vacuum created under the plate will draw theoil back into the cavity beneath the plate and thereby damp the motionin an upward direction as well as in a downward direction.

The rods it and 20 carry the bracket 3i which is gener-rectangular orsquare with an open: end or U shaped in section with two outwardlyextending flanges 3-2 through which the rods l9 and 20 pass. These rodsare threaded and provided with nuts 33 and Fi l respectively securelybolting the U shaped bracket in place.

The U-shaped bracket carries a closely fitting beam 35 which may be runtransversely to the beams and 5 to which the hydraulic hangers i and lare attached. The complete beam 35 may be supported by only two suchhydraulic hangers. If the beams 5, 5' run crosswise of the van or car,then the beam 35 will run lengthwise of the car. The beams 5 5' can beequipped with a plurality of sets of hydraulic hangers i and l, therebymaking it possible to suspend a series of longitudinal beams 35 in thevan or train. If the car or van is to be used for shipment of othercommodities, the beams 35 may be removed.

The hydraulic hangers i are shown attached to cross beams of a van orcar but they may be attached, if desired, to the side walls or byrunning the flange across the top edge of the casing or box, they may beattached to the ceiling with the bracket 3| hanging downward for holdingcrosswise or longitudinal beams.

It will be seen therefore that this invention provides considerablelatitude for the arrangement of cross or longitudinal beamsfor cars orvans. The number of hydraulic hangers for a beef rail will depend uponthe load to be carried'but there will be only a few compared to thenumber of sides of beef carried.

Any type of suspension hook may be used on the beam: 35;,but preferablyone should be used which is secure on the beam. In this respect it isdesired that a hanger or hook attached to the beam 35 extend around allthree sides and that the hookitself preferably extend directly beneaththe-suspension beam.

Where the hanger is to support considerable weight an' angle platelilmayextend from the top of the hanger box over the cross beams 5 and5', so that the load carried by the-hanger will be supported by theentire cross beams rather than only a portion of them. 7

Having now described'my invention, I claim: 1. An hydraulic hangersuspension adapted for installation in moving vehicles for beeftransportation comprising a housing having means for fixed: attachmentthereof toawall of a vehicle,

4 a U-shaped supporting bracket adapted to girdle and support a beam,rod members extending through the bottom of the housing attachedparallelly one to each side of the U-shaped supporting bracket, a platemember having a sliding fit in the housing, means securing said rodmembers to said plate, a plurality of springs acting between said platemember and the bottom of the housing, and hydraulic liquid means fillingthe space between the plate member and the bottom of the housing. 1

2. An hydraulic hanger suspension adapted for installation in movingvehicles for beef transportation, comprising a box-like housing having aflange extending outwardly from one side thereof near the top adaptedwhen installed to a plate member having a sliding fit in the housing,means securing said rod members to said plate, a plurality of springsacting between said plate member and the bottom of the housing, and an:hy-draulic liquid contained in the housing between the plate member andthe bottom of the housing.

3. An hydraulic suspension means comprising a box containing anhydraulic fluid having side walls and a bottom, a plate fittinghorizontally in said box with a sliding fit with respect to the sidesof. the box, a plurality of coil" springs extending parallelly betweenthe plates and the bottom of said box, means providing a pair of walledpassages extending upwards from the bottom of the box, a pair of rodsattached to said plate, each extending through one of said walledpassages and a U-shaped bracket carried by said rods below said box.

4. An hydraulic suspension means comprising a box containing anhydraulic fluid having side walls and a bottom, a flange on the externalside of said box for securing the box in' position, a plate fittinghorizontally in said box with a sliding fit with respect to the sides ofsaid box, a plurality of coil springs extending parallellybetween theplate and the bottom of said box, means providing a pair of walledpassages symmetrically positioned in each half of the box andextending'vertically upwards from the bottom of the box, a rod having asliding fit in each of said passages, means securingsaid rods at theirtops to said plate, said rods extending through said walled passagesoutward at the bottom of the box' and a U-shaped bracketcarriedby saidrods below said box. V

EDWARD R. HINCKLEI References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PA'IENTS" Number Name Date- 1,31'9,8 i8' Carbt Oct; 28; 19:191,863,714" Geiger June- 21, 1932 2,335,833 WOOd NOW-'30, 1943

